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This colorful and highly detailed comparative chart, produced in Vienna in 1855, presents a graphic visualization of global states ranked by territorial size, population, and military strength.
The chart is divided geographically into Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania. Each country is represented by a vertical bar proportional to its size and population, accompanied by its national flag for visual identification. The left and right margins list the nations alongside their relevant statistics.
European Russia, the British Empire, China, and the United States dominate the chart, reflecting their extensive territories and large populations. Numerous smaller states, including newly independent Latin American republics and minor European principalities, are arrayed at the lower levels of the graph. Flags, color coding, and text annotations provide quick visual cues to differentiate colonial possessions, continental groupings, and regional associations.
This chart exemplifies mid-19th century European interest in comparative statistics and visual education. It captures a world still largely dominated by empires, at a time when national borders were dynamic and colonial expansion was at its height. It offers valuable historical insight into contemporary geopolitical perceptions shortly before the major upheavals of the later 19th century, including the unifications of Germany and Italy, and the decline of older empires like Spain and the Ottoman Empire.
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